Prayers are answered

8-16-07 (started) – 8-19-07 (continued)

Now for an update on Kit. The original plan was for her follow-up surgery to be three or four months down the road once she had recovered from the first surgery. This would have been an arterial bypass and reconnection of the bowels. After nearly three weeks in the hospital, she was discharged Thursday (8/9), and by that evening she began having pain in her side again. My sister-in-law Dee was staying the night with her, and when Kit seemed to pass out in the middle of the night, Dee called 911.

We were told that her vital stats dropped so low in the ambulance that she probably wouldn’t have made it if they had come much later. Once she arrived at the hospital, they were able to stabilize her until the surgeon came in to see her. He seemed very worried and decided to go in right away for exploratory surgery, but he warned us that there might not be anything he could do at this point.

He had to remove another foot of her bowel (making about 4 ½ foot total), and he decided he had to do the bypass right away to save the rest of bowels. She made it out of the surgery, but it was obvious that the doctor was still very concerned because she would be sick for the next few days as her body had to flush out a lot of toxins, etc.

She made it through the critical period, and on Tuesday, the surgeon went back in to reattach the bowels. That surgery also went well, and the doctor himself seemed visibly relieved when he came to speak with us after the operation. We’ve been told that she’s not completely out of the woods yet because of her age, possible complications and simple fact that she has to recover from three operations in just over three weeks, but she appears to be on the mend.

Many prayers have been said on Kit’s behalf, and we are grateful for each one. She has been greatly blessed as have we all. Thank you very much for the support and caring. Until we meet again.

Pete the philosopher

7-29-07 (started) – 8-16-07 (continued)

Well, we’ve been home for a few days now, and we’ve had time to reflect and ponder. Okay, in reality, between visits to see Grandma at the hospital and keeping the kids busy with normal summer activities, we’ve finally had time to clean out the RV and put everything away (almost). The question I’ve been asked on more than one occasion since we’ve been home is, “Would you do it again?”

My answer to the question is, “In a heartbeat!”

Now, with that said, I wouldn’t recommend this type of trip for everyone. Becky is a good sport, and I personally thrive on this kind of traveling. I love seeing new places and people, and I like the combination of seeing major sites as well as having the opportunity to stay away from the big tourist spots. Having the RV was a great way to experience different aspects of the country.

I also kind of enjoy having to figure out on the go a plan to make things work out. Traveling through New York City trains and subways with three kids, a senior citizen, a stroller and wheelchair definitely took some flexibility and creativity. Years ago when Becky and I traveled through Europe, this kind of thing was much easier with just the two of us, but the challenge of this trip was kind of cool too. If you don’t like a bit of chaos in your life, this kind of trip may not be the best option.

I certainly plan on future RV trips (and believe it or not, Becky’s even on board with this) although we may wait a few years for the kids to get older before we tackle a cross-country adventure again. Although I love our old, beat-up RV that actually made to the East coast and back, I wouldn’t mind upgrading to a little nicer rig at some point.

Happy travels everyone, and I’ll leave you with John Greenleaf Whittier’s words that I try to remind myself of every so often:

God pity them both! and pity us all,
Who vainly the dreams of youth recall;
For of all sad words of tongue or pen
The saddest are these: “It might have been!”

There's no place like home

7-23-07

Once Becky woke up she drove for a while, and I was able to get about an hour and a half more sleep in the back of the RV. In order to get home as soon as possible to see Kit, we cut across Idaho straight into Nevada. We had to bypass Utah which was a little sad because we had some friends and family that we had planned on seeing, but it’s close enough and we know enough people there that we will definitely make it back up sooner rather than later.

We had planned on staying with our friends Travis and Alicia in Utah, and because we came home early, they are actually out here in California visiting his family so we’ll see them tomorrow (actually, we had dinner with them tonight, but we’re pretending that it’s yesterday – now two days ago by the time I’ve finished and posted this). Our friends Marie and Adam that we saw near Zion’s National Park are also out here so we’ll be able to see them again. The person that we really feel bad about missing is our friend Linda. She is Bill and Dorthy’s daughter and a good friend that used to help a lot with Zac. We hope to see her sooner, but we’ll see her in November if we don’t make it out to Utah before then.

So we made the always-exciting drive across Nevada, and our trusty RV even made it up and over Donner Summit. We made it home by about 6:30; I wouldn’t have thought it possible, but we made it home from South Dakota in a day and a half driving our RV that struggles up hills. When we got home, we couldn’t go over to see Kit right away because there was a shift change at the hospital. Our friends Bobby and Herlin knew we were coming in, and they had dinner ready for us. That was really nice after our long trek. The kids were extremely happy to see their friends again. We had dinner with them, left our kids at their house, and Becky and I went over to see Kit as soon as we could get in to the ICU.

Grandma Kit is doing as well as she could be at this point. The surgery went well, and the doctor is happy with her recovery. They expect her to be in the ICU for another day or two, and then in the hospital for about a week. In three to four months, they plan on having the next surgery to reattach everything they cut apart in the first one.

We are very grateful that she is okay, and we know that she has received many prayers on her behalf. Thank you.

In speaking with Kit, her spirits are good, and she doesn’t regret for a moment going on the trip. She loved spending time with the grandkids and is happy that she made it to Arlington and to her special beach in South Carolina. I know that she really enjoyed the Statue of Liberty, Niagara Falls and the Grand Canyon as well.

Well, that’s it for the trip I guess. Thank you all for following our many adventures. I know that we’ve had a lot of fun, and I hope you enjoyed reading about our crazy family. In a couple of days after we have time to unpack and get back to normal, I will try to write some of my final thoughts about the trip. I’ll do this more for myself since I plan on printing this out and keeping it as a record of our summer, but tune in again in a few days if you're interested in my profound musings.

Thanks again, and God bless you all. I know He has blessed us this summer.

Driving a long way to see a geyser

7-22-07

You’ve probably figured this out by now, but I’m writing this from home in sunny California (although it’s actually overcast, and I’m not going to complain about that in Sacramento in July especially since we have to clean out the RV today). I haven’t had a lot of time to write because we’ve been driving too much the last couple of days. Even though we’re home, I want to finish the blog for the last couple days of the trip. I’ve come this far, right?

Anyway, I got up at 5:30 this morning (I’m pretending it’s two days ago), and we were on the road by 6:30. We had looked at the atlas and had briefly considered going the shortest-distance route from South Dakota, but then we realized that going south down to Cheyenne or into Colorado and Utah would take us through the most difficult part of the Rockies, and one thing that we have learned about our old RV is that it’s not a great climber. So we stuck to original plan and drove to Yellowstone Park, except we drove straight there instead of stopping for the night when we got close. We had to cross the Big Horn mountain range, and while it wasn’t easy for our valiant RV, but we made it across.

We spent three or four hours in Yellowstone as opposed to the two days that we had planned, but we still saw quite a bit. We basically drove from the east entrance along the bottom part of the main loop and out the west entrance. We saw a bear way off in the distance and several buffalo, elk, dear, etc. fairly close up. One of the buffalo was even walking on the street right next to the RV. Katie looked out the window, pointed and said, “Doggie.” We even saw a couple of bald eagles on the way out of the park. We stopped briefly a couple of times to look at some of the animals, but the only time we stopped for an extended period was about 45 minutes to wait to see Old Faithful erupt.

When we left the park, we drove until about 11:00. I slept about four hours behind a closed gas station in a little town in Idaho and then got back on the road again as the rest of the gang slept in back of the RV.

Grandma, four presidents, tipis & water slides

7-21-07

I almost feel guilty because we had a fun-filled day while much more serious things were playing out in California. We were literally standing in front of Mt. Rushmore when we got a phone call from Dee telling us that Grandma Kit had gone into the emergency room early this morning and would be having surgery in a little while. We were very concerned, but our impression at that time was that it was supposed to be relatively minor surgery (maybe even laparoscopic). Maybe we misunderstood or maybe Dee didn’t know for sure at that point yet, but we learned later that day that it was pretty major surgery. The blood flow to part of her bowels had been cut off because of some artery problems so they had to remove part of her intestines. That certainly explains why she hadn’t been feeling well on the trip. It’s hard to have a good time when you can’t digest your food.

Anyway, we found out later that day that the surgery went well, and she will be having at least one follow-up surgery later once she recovers from this one in order to repair the internal plumbing.

Thinking that it was relatively minor at the time and not being able to do much because we were in South Dakota, we decided to finish our plans for the day. Once we spoke with Dee later in the day we would decide if we should come home early.

We did have a very fun day though. One of the reasons I had pushed to catch back up on the driving is that I knew that today would be a blast for the kids without a lot of driving. Our campground was only about ten minutes from Mt. Rushmore (or the Faces of Liberty, as Zac calls them) so we were there fairly early. Everyone enjoyed the monument, and the kids even seemed to like the museum.

Afterward, we drove a little over an hour to Hot Spings, South Dakota where we had a few surprises for the kids. We went to a campground where Alex, Zac and I went on a horseback trail ride through the hills. We had a good time even though the kids were scared for a little while when the horses were spooked by a large sheep that caught them by surprise. We then took them to Evan’s Plunge, a water park that is supplied with the natural warm mineral water that gives the town its name. All of us had a great time there.

That night the two older kids and I slept in an Indian tipi (Becky and Katie stayed in the RV). Alex and Zac were very exited about the theoretical idea of this, but they grew a little nervous when we had wind, lightening and a little rain. They even started asking about mountain lions. Fortunately, they were tired enough to fall asleep before too long.

Back to Grandma Kit. We expected to hear from Dee sometime today, but we realized in the middle of the afternoon that there was no cell phone coverage in Hot Spings. It took us forever to find a working pay phone, and when we finally did, we realized for the first time just how serious Kit’s surgery was. We debated whether we should start driving home right away, but we decided to get some sleep and start out early tomorrow morning.

Grandma is in our prayers.

Badlands & bad directions

7-20-07

Another long driving day, but at least we actually got to see a few things at the end of the day. It was kind of fun exploring South Dakota, the ancestral homeland of our friends John, Anita, et al. We made it to the Badlands and drove through the national park. The kids were mildly impressed, but Becky and I thought it was awesome. After that we went to Wall Drug in Wall, South Dakota. It’s kind of an American landmark that I had never heard of, but Becky knew all about. Apparently, it’s closely associated with jackalopes and the like. It was a fun stop, and we ate homemade ice cream.

Then at the end of this long driving day, we followed the worst set of mapquest directions ever. They took us to the middle of nowhere. If anyone is trying to get to the KOA near Mt. Rushmore, don’t follow the mapquest route. After wandering around in the mountains for an hour, we finally found a town and asked for directions. We got in a little late, but the kids still had time to swim for a little while so they were happy.

Westward ho; so long partner

7-19-07

Kit and I got up early even for EST, and I’m still half used to PST. We got her off at the airport though, and she made it home safely. We hope you feel better soon. We miss you already, Grandma Kit.

The downside of staying an extra day with Bill and Dorthy (thank you again) is that we had a lot of driving to make up. At least we set a new record for our trip with five states in one day. We began in Ohio, drove through Indiana, Illinois (Chicago was a pain in the behind, but I think that Mike Ditka flipped me off on the freeway – just kidding), Wisconsin and we ended up after midnight (past 1 EST, but we had moved into Central Time by then) in a rest area in Minnesota. A long day off driving, but at least we feel like we’re making progress on the way home.

A day with no kids?

7-18-07

Well, Kit didn’t get a flight out today, but she is flying out early tomorrow morning. The good side of that is that we got to spend another day here with our friends Bill and Dorthy. They have been more than generous. Kit stayed here and rested today, and Dorthy insisted on watching all three of our kids. She even loaned us her car so we could visit some of the Mormon history sites in this area without taking the beastly RV. We went to the first Mormon temple and a farm where Joseph Smith was pulled out of bed and tarred and feathered by an angry mob but still preached the next day.

The kids had a blast today with Dorthy. They went swimming, played at a park, visited a pond, and roasted hot dogs and smores in the backyard. Tomorrow will be a sad day because Grandma Kit is going home and we have to leave Bill and Dorthy’s house. We’ve had a wonderful time here.

Mixed emotions

7-17-07

We left Niagara Falls today, and drove to Ohio to visit our friends Bill and Dorthy. We just hung out, had dinner and visited. The kids loved just being able to play without being in the RV or having anything on the agenda.

We’re a little bit sad too because Grandma Kit has decided to fly home from here. She has loved the trip, but she just hasn’t been feeling really well over the last couple of weeks. She usually is pretty strong in the morning but then is fairly wiped out by the afternoon. She’s done great for a seventy-four year old, but we’ll miss her.

Everyone could use a good soaking, not to mention Halloween in July

7-16-07

Remember yesterday when Becky thought that Niagara Falls was a little on the touristy side? Well, we had only seen the yuppy bars at that point. We hadn’t even seen Clifton Street yet. I can’t even describe that scene. Let’s just say that there was something for everyone. Many of you know that I slightly enjoy Halloween, and there were at least four year-round haunted houses to visit. The kids and I chose the House of Frankenstein; it was okay, but the kids were pretty scared, Zac especially.

Anyway, back to the real natural wonders. We had a great time. Niagara Falls was very cool. If anyone is going, I would definitely recommend the Maid of the Mist, the boat that takes you up to the foot of the falls. You get soaked, but it’s awesome. We also went on the White Water Walk which was cool, and the Journey Behind the Falls which was okay. Overall, a very good day. I forgot to mention that yesterday we were able to see fireworks over the falls, and that made up a little for not seeing much on the 4th.

A whole lotta water

7-15-07

We attended church today in Palmyra which was cool, but it was packed because of all the visitors for the pageant. Then we drove to Canada, the only leg of our adventure outside of the United States. We are staying in a hotel in Niagara Falls, and we walked down to see the falls today – a very impressive sight. Alex said that she had pictured them higher, and Becky was surprised how touristy and built up the area surrounding the falls was. I think that she was expecting a more Grand Canyon-like feel. Nonetheless, everyone agreed that the falls themselves were pretty spectacular.

Tomorrow we’ll be getting a much closer view of the falls.

Footsteps of a prophet & a self-healing toddler

7-14-07

A day of ups and downs. First, we went to visit the Smith family farm and what is known as the Sacred Grove behind the farm. This is where Joseph Smith had a vision of God the Father and Jesus Christ when he prayed about what church to join. What an experience it was to walk in the footsteps of a prophet. There was such a feeling of peace and of a divine presence in the woods.

This afternoon we caught up on laundry and then went to the Mormon Church’s visitor’s center for the area. That was very cool also, but as we were leaving, Dad the dumb brute wrestler and good-intentioned six-year old Zac were swinging Katie to try to get her to stop clinging to Mommy. We’re not sure exactly what happened, but we think that her left shoulder probably partially separated. She went from varying levels of uncomfortable to downright crying as we drove her to the emergency room. She was obviously in pain when the triage nurse checked her out and then took us back to a room. She actually seemed to get worse during a little stretch when she was inconsolable. Then, just before the doctor had a chance to come in, Beck just adjusted Katie’s position slightly on her lap, and immediately there was a change like from night to day. By the time the doctor came in, Katie was her normal happy self and showed no signs of pain in the arm even when manipulated by the doctor. He thinks that either the shoulder or elbow was partially dislocated and then slipped back into place.

Whatever happened, we said some prayers of gratitude tonight as things on this trip seem to keep correcting themselves (the fridge, the engine overheating at the beginning of the trip, etc.) Believe me, I’m knocking on wood as I’m writing this.

Quite a show

7-13-07

Again, we shifted into a very different gear today. We drove to Palmyra, New York to visit some historic sites associated with Joseph Smith and the origins of the Mormon Church. Tonight we attended the Hill Cumorah Pageant, an outdoor play with a cast of hundreds that relates some of the stories from the Book of Mormon and how it was translated in modern times. It was awesome. The play is shown at night, and the stage is built on many levels of a hillside. The way they used the lighting, at one point it actually looked like the actor playing Jesus was suspended in the air above all the people. Excellent effects and an even better message.

A day for contemplation, toys & magic

7-12-07

We started the day by taking in one of the more sobering sites of New York City. Ground Zero or the former site of the World Trade Center is currently a large hole in the ground with a lot of construction work being done. It was a tough site to visit but very moving also. I think even Alex grasped a little of the meaning as she has a vague recollection of the 9/11 attacks.

After that we shifted gears and strolled through Time Square. We spent the majority of our time there in the biggest Toys R Us in the world. The kids (yes, Katie and me too) rode on the Ferris wheel inside of the store and the kids (no, not me this time) were a little leery of the full-sized animatronic Tyrannosaurus Rex. It was a pretty amazing store.

We again had to fight the battle of the regional train ordeal with wheelchair, stroller, luggage and now a bag from Toys R Us, but we survived. And amazingly the trusty RV was right where we left it at the train station.

The final piece of our exceptional day came unexpectedly. When we were in Time Square, we noticed that the new Harry Potter movie had been released a few days early in NYC, but the lines were crazy there. However, when we got to our little town of Chester, 35 miles outside of New York, we found the movie playing without the lines. Becky decided to wait to see it until she could go without Katie, but Alex, Zac and I got to see it a day before it opened in most of the country. So in your face. all you muggles.

Lady Liberty meets Dr. Jeckyll

7-11-07

Dude, New Yorkers have a bad rap. Maybe it was just my charming personality, but everyone we met today was incredibly helpful and nice. We had people giving us directions and helping carry the wheelchair down subway steps, etc. Or maybe the real reason is that they saw us running around New York City with an eight-year old, a six-year old, an eighteen-month old in a stroller, and a seventy-four year old in a wheelchair. It was an experience, but we had a great time. It kind of reminded me of when Beck and I bummed around Europe one summer (oh yeah, except that was with no kids or mother-in-law, but it was basically the same thing).

We got up and out early, left the RV for a couple of days in a regional train station (I sure hope it’s there when we get back), and took a train into the big city. We went to see the Statue of Liberty first, and that was very cool. The kids loved it, and Kit was doing well until the just near the very end. You can take a elevator up the pedestal most of the way, but you have to walk the last 24 steps. She made it, and she’s glad she did, but she was pretty much wiped out afterward.

We went to check into our hotel room that we had already gotten a great deal on as a last minute rate, but we were supposed to have tiny rooms with only a double bed in each room. We had told the kids that they would have to sleep on the floor, and we brought sleeping bags and pillows for them, but I think the lady felt sorry for us when she saw me pushing Kit in the wheelchair. She wanted to make sure we were all on the same floor so she upgraded Kit to a room with a king bed, and she upgraded us to large corner room with two queen beds. It ended up being an exceptional deal right in the middle of downtown NYC.

Kit stayed at the hotel to rest, but we ran right away to go to dinner at Jeckyll and Hyde’s, a haunted-themed restaurant. Since I had booked a pre-paid party ahead of time and sent in an info sheet about us but kept it a secret from the kids, they were very surprised when a lot of the entertainment was customized to us. It was very cool and perfect for the kids (yes, I am including myself here). A werewolf even tried to eat Zac! Some people might think it a bit corny, but the kids and I loved it. I would recommend it especially with kids. I have a few new ideas for my annual Halloween party (if I recover enough from this trip to put it on this year).

Fresh Air; Time Square. Darling I love you, but give me Park Avenue

7-10-07

We’re now all in New York states of minds. Part of that includes being hot and frustrated. We got to our RV park, and it just wasn’t what we had expected. Some of the parks have been better than we anticipated, but I would not recommend the Black Bear park in rural Florida, New York. It was hot (not their fault), but our site was about as far away from the bathrooms and showers as you could get. We were literally about a half-mile up hill from the pool, and the train to get into New York City is not as close as they make it sound online. We cancelled our reservations (had to pay a small fee) and found a nice hotel suite for all of us.

We went swimming, watched TV and planned out our options for going into the city tomorrow. We actually found a last minute deal on a couple of hotel rooms. So we’ll leave the RV in long-term parking at a regional train station and spend tomorrow night in the Big Apple. I’ll report later about how that all plays out.

Homecoming?

7-9-07

Well, it took over thirty-five years, but I finally made it back to my birth state. Yes, I was born in New Jersey when my dad was stationed there in the army even though I’ve lived almost my whole life on the West Coast.

We hung at out at Julie’s this morning to get caught up on laundry, etc. She came home on her lunch break, and we were able to say goodbye to her. She and her family were very generous to us. Thank you.

We drove through four different states today (a first for us, I think). We started the day in Virginia, then went through Maryland and Delaware before getting into Jersey. Kit was feeling fine most of the day, but then got a little queasy after we had been driving for a while so we knocked off a little early. We even splurged (or Kit splurged for us all) on a Holiday Inn with a pool. Hey, it’s not everyday that you go back to your home state after a thirty-five year absence.

Kit seems to be feeling better after a little rest, and the kids and I went swimming. New York, here we come.

I don’t think that we actually took any pictures today, but in order to celebrate my triumphant return, here’s one of Katie and me from earlier in the trip.

Dinosaurs & goodbye Deelee

7-8-07

Good news. Kit is feeling much better today, but she decided to lay low to make sure she’s really over this. From Julie’s house, there was a church building literally down the street so we were able to walk.

We went in to DC with Julie, her husband Dave and their daughter Sarah, but Kit stayed at Julie’s house to rest. We went to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History because the kids were excited about the dinosaur bones. They were cool, but none of them played fetch with us like in the movie Night at the Museum; I think the kids were disappointed by that, but they had a good time anyway.

We were sad to see her leave, but Aunt Dee had to fly home today so she left from the museum. We’re glad she was with us for six days, but the kids will miss her until we get back home. Bye, Aunt Dee.

After the museum, we walked to the Washington Monument and saw the White House too, but it was hot and the kids were not as impressed as the adults. We wanted to go to the Lincoln Memorial, but we couldn’t find parking and the kids wanted to go back to Julie’s to go swimming. So we went swimming and barbequed hamburgers for dinner. Thanks for letting us stay and showing us around, Dave and Julie.

I think the kids will appreciate DC more some day when they’re a little older.

A promise kept

7-7-07

Today was the real center of our trip. Kit’s husband Bob (Becky and Dee’s dad) passed away in 1984 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Washington D.C. Kit and the girls moved out to California where a couple of her daughters were in college, and they had not been back to the East coast for 21 years. Kit has always been very generous with us and even gave us a great deal on our house. Beck and I have been talking about taking Kit back to DC once we could afford to. So that was one of my justifications when we bought the RV and began planning this crazy trip.

Today we made it to Arlington and visited the Colonel’s grave. Unfortunately, Kit still is on the mend and wasn’t feeling really well yet. We made it to her husband’s grave, but we may go back tomorrow if she’s feeling better so we can see more of the sites in DC.

We are staying in Virginia with Dee’s friend Julie and her family. We have the RV parked in front of her house, and Kit gets a real bed to sleep in. Hopefully, she’ll be feeling better by tomorrow.

The family that eats ice cream together...

7-6-07

We had to leave South Carolina today. Dee and Becky took the kids to the beach again this morning. Kit and I went to find a place to get the oil changed in the RV. It was too big to fit in to the places nearby, but a nice guy came out and changed the oil in the parking lot.

We took off and drove to North Carolina where we met up with my niece Tansy, her fiancé David, brother Adam, sister Danni, mom Gwen and step-dad George. We all went out to dinner and then got ice cream at Cold Stone where Tansy works. It was a nice visit and good to see them all again.

A trip to the doctor & a pirate's lair

7-5-07

Happy Birthday Paul.

Grandma still wasn’t feeling too well today so Dee and Becky took her in to see a doctor. He was concerned with a few things so they spent the day running a full range of tests. Fortunately, he didn’t find anything serious, and he gave Kit some medicine and a green light to finish the trip as long as she starts feeling better. He does want her to follow up with her doctor once she gets back though. We’re glad she’s okay.

The kids and I hung around the KOA today. We went swimming, played on the play equipment and took a walk in the woods and along the lake. We saw a gator again today. We also watched some movies in the RV. We had intended to go to Ft. Sumpter today, but that will have to wait 'til our next trip to South Carolina. I promised the kids that we could go to the beach again for a little while before we leave tomorrow.

Tonight, Becky and Dee took Alex and Zac to Blackbeard’s cove, an amusement center with mini golf, bounce houses, go carts, etc. Alex was champion of the climbing wall, and Zac ended up with tons of prize tickets. We’ll be sad to leave South Carolina tomorrow.

Independence Day - freedom to do nothing

7-4-07

Happy 4th of July. We miraculously found a parking stop on the Isle of Palms (thanks to Grandma’s handicapped placard), and we spent a few hours at the beach. We had blue skies and less wind than yesterday. It was a blast.

This afternoon, we spent time at the KOA swimming and relaxing. We even saw an alligator in the small lake next to the campground. Don’t worry, that’s not where we were swimming. There’s a pool here.

We had planned to go out to see some fireworks, but Grandma wasn’t feeling well so we stayed here. We could see some fireworks over the trees, but we couldn’t use any of our own here. Some crazy rule the KOA has because of the big propane tank in the middle of the park. So maybe I’ll have a few items left for use at a later date.

Beach bums and a visitor

Man, alive. The kids thought they were in Heaven. Actually being able to play in the ocean without wetsuits and not freezing your you know what off. Coming from Northern CA, they had never experienced that. In fact, I had only been in warm ocean water once before when Beck and I went scuba diving in Mexico a few years ago.

The Isle of Palms was a bit windy, but even with the wind it wasn’t cold. The water was so warm that we could stay in the ocean and be fine. Alex had her first real experience boogie boarding. She caught several small waves with a push off from Dad. The kids were very disappointed when we told them it was time to leave.

After we got back to the KOA, Kit and Katie took naps, and the older kids went swimming in the pool. Then early this evening Bccky’s sister Dee got here. She flew in from California and will be staying with us here in South Carolina and traveling with us to Washington DC. She, of course, has good memories from the Isle of Palms also. I invited her to come on the whole trip as she is a teacher too, but six days of this crazy adventure was all I could talk her into. All three kids are very excited to have Aunt Dee with us.

We went to the beach one more time so that Aunt Dee could swim with the kids too. The sky was even blue by this afternoon. We are loving South Carolina!

Gloating, Memories & Fireworks - not necessarily in that order

7-2-07

Addressing again all the naysayers: now it's my turn to gloat (although not too loudly because we have a long way to go before we get home). WE MADE IT TO THE EAST COAST!!! HOORAY!!! We pulled in to the Mt. Pleasant KOA outside of Charleston, South Carolina, and we have already gone to the beach at the Isle of Palms and eaten a great seafood dinner at a local crab restaurant. We had rain over the last couple of days, but when we got here the weather was breaking. The sun was peeking though the clouds, there was a nice breeze, and it is not nearly as humid as it was in Georgia and Tennessee.

We chose to come here because Kit and her late husband Bob used to bring their kids here on vacation when he was in the Air Force and stationed on the East coast. Kit brought Becky and her sisters to the Isle of Palms once shortly after their dad died, and they have fond memories but have not been back in 21 years.

We will be staying here now for four nights so it will also be nice to get a break from driving.

When I stopped at a crazy huge fireworks store (not stand), a lady looked at the plates on the RV, and asked, “Did you really drive here from California?”

“Yeah,” I answered, “We came for the fireworks.” There are a lot of fireworks that I haven’t seen since I was a kid. Of course, it would be illegal for me to bring any of those back into California so don’t ask. (wink, wink).

Becky - she's a little bit country?

7-1-07

For anyone who wasn’t aware, the Mormon Church (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) is not as established in the East as it is in the West, and this is especially true in the South. Today we found a tiny congregation in Waverly, TN that had about twenty people not including us (although we were assured that a few people were out of town on vacation). Still, it was the smallest congregation that I had attended, and I was in some fairly small branches during my mission in France and Switzerland. It was a really good meeting though, and I even had the opportunity to stand up and introduce our family and share a little about us and our trip. Then Alex even got up and shared some of her feelings about her baptism a few months ago.

As we left to go back to Loretta’s ranch, a pretty good thundershower had started, and it was supposed to rain on and off the whole day. We decided to leave the ranch a day earlier than we had planned because we knew that we’d be cooped up in the RV the whole evening anyway so we might as well be driving. We caught a small reprieve from the rain to take some pictures, and then we left in the early afternoon. We had rain a lot of the way, but we made it through Atlanta where we spent the night at a Walmart east of the city. We’ve all gotten used to sleeping in the RV, and we had a good night’s sleep and are still a day ahead of schedule.

I’ve forgotten to mention that the whole time at Loretta’s ranch, Becky (who’s pretty good at imitations) couldn’t stop herself from speaking in a Southern accent. I think it suited her well. She’ll make a right fine Southern belle when I move the whole family to Alabama just so I can get in touch with my country roots. Anybody know how much a teacher makes in Alabama? How about a rodeo clown?

The Coal Miner's Daughter

6-30-07

Today, we drove and drove and drove and drove, but we made good time, and made it to Loretta Lynn’s Ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee. When I was young, I saw Coal Miner’s Daughter, and I have loved Loretta Lynn ever since (although as a kid I used to picture her as Sissy Spacek). The first LP I ever bought was Loretta. I saw her perform a few years back in Reno. So I thought it would be cool to visit her ranch, and I found out online that she has an RV park as part of her ranch.

Now that I’m here though, I think that I feel differently. It feels so artificial. It has the feeling that Loretta made her ranch into a campground/museum, etc. of her life because she wants to reach out to her fans that want to be a part of her life, but at the same time, it seems strange. Everyone here would love to get the chance to meet Loretta, but I just have no desire to meet her as a gawking tourist. I’ve never been the kind of person to get autographs from famous people, and I guess I feel kind of cheesy being here. Tomorrow, I will get my picture taken in front of the Coal Miner’s Daughter gate, and I will probably go though the museum of her life. But I think that this will be my only experience with trying to glimpse into the life of a star.

I still love Loretta though.

The Hedricks meet the Simpsons

6-29-07

We decided to change up our routine a little today. We slept in which was much needed after the previous night. Then we found a movie theater in Amarillo and went to see Pirates of the Caribbean 3. The kids wanted to see it, and they’ve traveling pretty well. It was pretty cool because there were only three other people in the theater (it started at 11:20 a.m.) and they were all sitting near the top. So we were able to let Katie roam free in the theater without disturbing other people. Then after the movie, we got a picture with THE Simpsons!

After that we spent the afternoon and evening driving. We had a good dinner at a mom and pop restaurant near Oklahoma City, and we spent the night at a rest area near Checotah, OK.